Jury is back to deliberate Layne case

Mar. 19, 2013

Sandra Layne, 75, glances at her lawyer Jerome Sabbota during closing arguments in her trial Monday in the Oakland County courtroom of Circuit Judge Denise Langford Morris. Her trial began March 4. Jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes Monday. / Photos by MANDI WRIGHT/Detroit Free Press

Jurors will continue deliberating this morning to decide the fate of 75-year-old Sandra Layne -- portrayed by prosecutors as a cold and calculated killer weary of her troubled grandson and by her defense attorney as a frightened woman who shot the teen in self-defense.

Jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes Monday after closing arguments. They asked to see the Glock 9mm handgun Layne used to shoot Jonathan Hoffman, 17, six times on May 18 in her West Bloomfield condominium, along with autopsy reports and blood spatter diagrams.

The jury also asked for a tape player to listen to the 911 call of Hoffman begging for help as Layne shot him a third time. The tape player will be provided to them this morning.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Jerome Sabbota urged jurors to acquit Layne, a retired schoolteacher and mother of five.

"She killed a child she was trying to protect and tried to save," Sabbota said. "Don't compound the tragedy."

Noting Hoffman's drug use and increasingly violent behavior, Sabbota said, "You're not 73, 74 years old. You have to put yourself in her position ... she goes upstairs, he kicks her in the chest, he hits her in the face ... she was in hysterics."

Oakland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton, in sometimes scathing tones, told jurors to remember that Layne had plenty of opportunities to stop the bloodshed, but didn't. He said she passed by doors that could have been used if she wanted to escape and telephones in the house to call for help.

"Rather than choosing 10 bullets to be your negotiator, why don't you pick up one of the 11 phones?" Walton said. "You don't get a gun because somebody is using bad language. The only thing that Jonathan had at that point was a caustic or smart mouth."

Layne, as she has done every day since the trial began March 4, sat rocking slightly at the defense table, wearing the same yellow sweater. At times, she seemed near tears.

The two are divorced and were living in Arizona at the time of the shooting. Jonathan Hoffman was living with Layne so he could finish high school in Michigan. Outside the courtroom, Sabbota said Hoffman's parents -- who have not talked to the news media -- should be held accountable.

"She took on too much responsibility," he said of Layne.

Jurors are considering first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, along with acquittal. The trial is before Oakland County Circuit Judge Denise Langford Morris.